Is that a Wisp?

"Deific Meridians…" Krune muttered, feeling that they were more or less similar in quality as compared to Godly Meridians. But, they were even more suited to his body of a wisp. It also allowed him to cultivate both Mental Energy as well as the energy that his body used.

The prime function of the Deific Meridians was to convert one form of energy into other. So, all Krune needed was a thought to convert Spiritual Energy into the energy of the body or Mental Energy. Moreover, all his energy sources—Ocean Heart, Dantian, and the Mental Energy in his soul—were fused into his Wisp Core, allowing him to output even more power through his attacks. 

It was akin to possessing three Dantians based on energy capacity. Even though this caused his cultivation speed to slow down, since he was cultivating all three aspects at the same time, his strength was on a whole other level as compared to others. 

After all, his body, cultivation, and mind were in sync now. This allowed him to exercise greater control than before. Krune could safely say with assurance that his current self was capable of defeating his past self that had attained Foundation Establishment without a problem. 

And, of course, this was without including his current body strength that was on par with a Black Demon. Just by relying on his new cultivation technique and possessing a cultivation base at the First Stage of Qi Condensation, Krune was now confident of the thought. 

After all, he possessed all his active and passive abilities, a tough body, the Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Mark, and Mental Energy. And he was only at the First Stage of Qi Condensation. 

'Once I return to the God Realm and my cultivation base recovers to Eighth Stage God Foundation, I should work in bringing all my three cultivations to the same level. That way, the synergic effect given by the Deific Wisp Technique would allow me to output the greatest power.' 

Krune then looked at Feifei, asking, "How's your cultivation technique?"

"Peerless!" She had only one word to describe it. "Whatever I have now, and what I possess after returning to the God Realm, everything has been perfectly integrated into it. I no longer have any weakness."

"Same here," Krune said in response, activating Sonic Radar to scout his surroundings. He was now able to use it naturally. With that, he noticed two people standing some distance away, staring right at them. "There are two people positioned 30 meters away from us."

"Let's meet up with them and see what they have to say," Feifei said, striding forward. "They should be related to the village."

"Are you outsiders?" A middle-aged man stood before them, asking upon seeing the duo walking towards them. Though, it seemed he was only asking out of formality, knowing very well that Krune and Feifei weren't part of his village. 

"We came from beyond the village," Feifei said. 

"Then, please proceed in this way." the middle-aged man said in response, pointing towards his right at a forest trail. "This would lead towards a mountain pass, beyond which lies the Hacka Clan that guards the gate towards the next level."

"Hacka Clan? Gate?" Krune asked in confusion. "What are they?"

"You don't know about them?" the middle-aged man asked in surprise before sighing, beginning to explain, "So, you must not have heard about much regarding the Immortal Peak. Let me explain, then."

"There are numerous levels on the Immortal Peak. On every level, there is a cultivation base dictated. Only those a stage above and below the designated stage can remain on that particular level," he told them. "Each level is akin to a vast space. Even though we're situated on the side of the Immortal Peak, the entire level consists of flat plains and occasional mountains. We have no idea how it functions, but that is how it exists."

"How will we proceed higher up, then? I thought all we needed to do was scale upwards," Krune asked, now even more confused. 

"I'll tell you that shortly," the middle-aged man replied, continuing, "In this level, the designated cultivation base is First Stage Qi Condensation. So, mortals and Second Stage Qi Condensation cultivators can also roam here. But, anyone with cultivation bases beyond these would incite heavenly tribulation and would be vaporized immediately. There's no way to avoid them."

"And, since each level look like vast, independent planes rather than the side of a mountain, there's no way to virtually scale up." He then continued after letting out a sigh, "A famous cultivator genius that had the power of wind tried to fly up and see if he was able to reach the next level. Unfortunately for him..."

The middle-aged man shook his head, sighing. "He carried with him a tremendous amount of Spirit Stones to help in his flight and flew for more than a month. Unfortunately, he failed to reach the next level and only met a barrier of sorts that prevented him from proceeding beyond. No matter what he did, that barrier wasn't even in the least scratched. Rather, his Spirit Abilities dissipated by the time they reached the barrier."

'Right, if the barrier is made from Godly Energy, the sheer oppressiveness it exudes is enough to dissipate any ability that uses Spiritual Energy.' Krune nodded, asking, "So, I think this is where the Gates come into play?"

"Yes." The middle-aged man nodded. "The gates work similarly to the ground level in that they release a select number of tokens every year. Only those with a token can pass through the gates and reach the next level."

"Occupying each gate is a clan that dominates the respective region. Using this, they use most of the tokens to send their genius family members to the higher levels and establish their clans there as well. That way, they try to clear a path until the top. Our village has also done the same. To be more specific, we have ancestors that have formed clans at the very peak as well," he spoke.

"Does that mean there's no hope for those not part of the respective clans to head higher up?" Krune frowned as he asked, considering whether he should brute force his way through and snatch the tokens using his power.. If he wished, it was a piece of cake, not worth fretting over.